Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In my electorate of Richmond, Feros Care, a not-for-profit aged and community care organisation, has launched a 12-week trial program called the virtual seniors centre. This innovative program provides a suite of daily online activities, events and social programs that seniors can access and participate in without even having to leave their home.

Currently up to 35 participants aged between 70 and their late 90s are able to book into a range of interactive activities which include tai chi, discussion groups, celebrity guest speakers, politicians, karaoke, travel advice, online games, health talks, craft, art, and also music lessons. The booking is made via a simple app accessed through the use of participants' own devices or one supplied by Feros Care, including touch screens, computers and iPads. All the technology, training and support is provided. The aim is to strengthen and broaden people's social and community connections and prevent the issues of deterioration in mental and physical health that often arise from social isolation and loneliness.

I was really pleased to be invited as a guest interviewee at one of these sessions in October, which was 'virtually' attended by about 20 people. The interaction between me and the participants was great fun. It was very informative, with lots of interesting questions from and conversations with a whole range of people right throughout the region. The overriding theme of this program is 'Get Bold, Not Old', and the people that I spoke to certainly capture this wholeheartedly. There is scope to grow this program nationally, as it could benefit anyone who is housebound or feels isolated, not just seniors. The participants can in fact all be sitting in different towns or even in different states. The only requirement is internet connectivity.

In addition to the virtual seniors centre, Feros also run the program Better Health Care Connections—also known as eVillage—which uses telehealth environments to allow residents at their villages to have weekly virtual GP consultations and specialist appointments. This helps their health outcomes a great deal. Feros Care have a number of villages on the New South Wales North Coast: one at Byron Bay, one in Bangalow and one at Wommin Bay at Kingscliff.

They have also got another really great initiative which is called 'Wheel-I-Am'. It is an iPad mounted on a Segway base, which allows residents with health and mobility issues to take a tour of the Tweed Regional Museum's ANZAC exhibition with their fellow residents without even having to leave the village. They can see it all on the iPad.

These three very important initiatives have made a real difference to the lives of so many local seniors living within my region. I commend Feros Care for the wonderful work they have done with these three programs and I urge both the state and federal governments to continue funding these trials and supporting Feros Care in similar programs so they can continue to deliver these really good initiatives that have in fact shown great successes. They have been shown to improve the lives of so many senior Australians locally, and I call on the government to fund these trials. They are very important to our region.